Quotable: The presidential candidates on US infrastructure

By |  October 28, 2016

Two presidential candidates. Two vice presidential candidates. All four have a lot to say about the state of transportation infrastructure across the United States. Here are a few notable candidate quotes from over the years.

Hillary Clinton

Democratic, presidential nominee
“In my first 100 days, we will work with both parties to pass the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II. Jobs in manufacturing, clean energy, technology and innovation, small business, and infrastructure. If we invest in infrastructure now, we’ll not only create jobs today, but lay the foundation for the jobs of the future. And we will transform the way we prepare our young people for those jobs.”
(July 29, 2016, Democratic National Convention)

“We need to have a better infrastructure in order to protect us. … We’ve got to look at … the levees of New Orleans to the bridge in Minneapolis to what happened to us in New York City on 9/11 as the highest priority, and it will be at the top of my list when I’m president.”
(Aug. 7, 2007, Democratic Presidential Debate)


Donald Trump

Republican, presidential nominee
“President Obama has doubled our national debt to more than $19 trillion, and growing. Yet, what do we have to show for it? Our roads and bridges are falling apart, our airports are in Third World condition and 43 million Americans are on food stamps.”
(July 21, 2016, Republican National Convention)

“[As president I’d] rebuild the country’s infrastructure. Nobody can do that like me. Believe me. It will be done on time, on budget, way below cost, way below what anyone ever thought. I look at the roads being built all over the country, and I say I can build those things for one-third.”
(June 16, 2015, campaign announcement)


Tim Kaine

Democratic, vice presidential nominee
“I supported the transportation bill the Senate passed tonight, the FAST Act, because it provides something we haven’t had in years – higher investment in America’s transportation infrastructure and the long-term certainty of a five-year bill. The investment will generate returns for the economy and commuters by saving gasoline not burned, work productivity not lost, and family time not missed from idling in traffic or waiting for delayed trains.”
(Dec. 3, 2015, press release)

“[I will] veto any tax increase … unless the transportation trust fund is locked up. There’s no way to tax and pave our way out of the transportation problem. … I’m very clear on this … I’m not going to ask people for any more revenue when there’s no guarantee that the revenue will go to transportation.”
(July 2005, Virginia Republican gubernatorial debate)


Mike Pence

Republican, vice presidential nominee
“They tell us this economy is the best that we can do. It’s nowhere near the best that we can do. It’s just the best that they can do. Let me tell you, I know firsthand, it does not have to be like this. In my home state of Indiana, we prove every day that you can build a growing economy on balanced budgets, low taxes, even while making record investments in education and roads and healthcare.”
(July 20, 2016, Republican National Convention)

“I think when you have money in the bank and the best credit rating in America, the last place you should look to pay for roads and bridges is the wallets and pocketbooks of hard-working Hoosiers. … Let’s invest in our roads and maintain the Crossroads of America, and let’s do it without raising taxes.”
(Jan. 12, 2016, Indiana State of the State Address)


Source: The American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s “Special Report: The Presidential Candidates on Transportation” (August 2016 edition)


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